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Occupancy

Ages of children

Location

9/10

The Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum and Concertgebouw to one side, the likes of Cartier, Gucci and Armani on the other, and the main canals a few minutes’ walk away. You could hardly ask for more.

Style & character

9/10

Italian interiors architect Piero Lissoni is the star here. He has transformed the weighty 19th-century building (once a bank, and for many years the Sweelinck music conservatory) into an uplifting expanse of contemporary design. Wall-tiles, stained glass and many other features of the original structure remain intact, beautifully restored, but it is Lissoni’s trademark clean lines, muted fabrics and cheeky flashes of colour that set the tone. The spacious, glass-enclosed lobby-lounge surpasses any in town for drink, meal (it includes a brasserie), or coffee stop-off.

Service & facilities

7/10

Urbane, stylish and friendly, the staff successfully occupy that tricky territory that lies between over-familiarity and deference. Each guest is assigned a ‘personal host’, who combines concierge services with any tips or city insights you might require. Having said that, service can be functional to the point of seeming uncaring.

Bar

Fitness centre

Laundry

Parking

Pool

Restaurant

Room service

Sauna

Spa

Wi-Fi

Rooms

9/10

The building’s multi-role history means rooms vary in size – from 28 m2 to 170 m2 – but all share the Lissoni clean lines, demure shades of brown, beige and grey, and the odd bright flash of colour. The most alluring are those in parts of the building that had imposingly high ceilings, now transformed into spilt-level rooms and suites. There’s an excellent spa, and an 18-metre pool.

Food & drink

9/10

After developing some distinctively Spanish and Asian culinary themes when the hotel first opened, the Conservatorium’s chef Schilo van Coevorden has broken new ground with the opening of Taiko in September 2014. In an ultra-chic, black and white environment, Schilo serves up a menu which is principally Japanese in style - Wagyu beef, sahsimi, daikon salad with wild ginger and cherry blossom for example - though with plenty of inspiration from China and west-coast America. If you are bedazzled by the carte, go for the €85 (£63) tasting menu. Downstairs, a brasserie in the lobby area does lighter meals, and has a great lunch buffet.